SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

An omitted EXPRESSION defaults to false. Otherwise, EXPRESSION is true or false and sets exit status. It is one of:
( EXPRESSION )

EXPRESSION is true

! EXPRESSION

EXPRESSION is false

EXPRESSION1 −a EXPRESSION2

both EXPRESSION1 and EXPRESSION2 are true

EXPRESSION1 −o EXPRESSION2

either EXPRESSION1 or EXPRESSION2 is true

−n STRING

the length of STRING is nonzero

STRING

equivalent to −n STRING

−z STRING

the length of STRING is zero

STRING1 = STRING2

the strings are equal

STRING1 != STRING2

the strings are not equal

INTEGER1 −eq INTEGER2

INTEGER1 is equal to INTEGER2

INTEGER1 −ge INTEGER2

INTEGER1 is greater than or equal to INTEGER2

INTEGER1 −gt INTEGER2

INTEGER1 is greater than INTEGER2

INTEGER1 −le INTEGER2

INTEGER1 is less than or equal to INTEGER2

INTEGER1 −lt INTEGER2

INTEGER1 is less than INTEGER2

INTEGER1 −ne INTEGER2

INTEGER1 is not equal to INTEGER2

FILE1 −ef FILE2

FILE1 and FILE2 have the same device and inode numbers

FILE1 −nt FILE2

FILE1 is newer (modification date) than FILE2

FILE1 −ot FILE2

FILE1 is older than FILE2

−b FILE

FILE exists and is block special

−c FILE

FILE exists and is character special

−d FILE

FILE exists and is a directory

−e FILE

FILE exists

−f FILE

FILE exists and is a regular file

−g FILE

FILE exists and is set−group−ID

−G FILE

FILE exists and is owned by the effective group ID

−h FILE

FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as −L)

−k FILE

FILE exists and has its sticky bit set

−L FILE

FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as −h)

−O FILE

FILE exists and is owned by the effective user ID

−p FILE

FILE exists and is a named pipe

−r FILE

FILE exists and read permission is granted

−s FILE

FILE exists and has a size greater than zero

−S FILE

FILE exists and is a socket

−t FD

file descriptor FD is opened on a terminal

−u FILE

FILE exists and its set−user−ID bit is set

−w FILE

FILE exists and write permission is granted

−x FILE

FILE exists and execute (or search) permission is granted

Except for −h and −L, all FILE−related tests dereference symbolic links. Beware that parentheses need to be escaped (e.g., by backslashes) for shells. INTEGER may also be −l STRING, which evaluates to the length of STRING.

NOTE: [ honors the −−help and −−version options, but test does not. test treats each of those as it treats any other nonempty STRING.

NOTE: your shell may have its own version of test and/or [, which usually supersedes the version described here. Please refer to your shell’s documentation for details about the options it supports.